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After the interval - Five thoughts

20 March 2020

What will the public need from us on the 'other side' of the Covid-19 crisis? 5 thoughts for marketing and communications teams:

1

Many people, even those who have only a passing love of music or theatre, will realise how much they miss sharing experiences with others in a live setting, and how central it is to their lives. We won't need to spell out anymore why experiencing something 'live' is better than Netflix or Classic FM (lovely though they are). People will UNDERSTAND.

We need to read the zeitgeist and be ready with open arms to offer them a cornucopia of experiences at that point, and no sooner. Offering people these choices when they are still fearful and apprehensive may make us appear insensitive and opportunistic.

2

Elderly patrons may take a lot longer to come back to concerts in a confined concert hall or theatre environment – so OUTDOOR and ONLINE formats may be particularly important in the medium term.

3

We will need to give strong reassurances and guarantees to people when asking them to book for performances in advance – eg. we may need to offer free exchanges to other performances if they decide they shouldn’t attend, encourage or introduce ticket protection insurance, and remind people that they will always receive a refund for cancelled performances. We may also need to be more upfront with payment plans to allow people to spread payments across the months.

4

We need to find opportunities to allow multiple generations to celebrate being together again. Any cultural events that encourage the old and the young to engage together will be particularly important I think, given our enforced separation at the moment.

5

We need to shout loudly about all the many ways we contribute to the Health and Education of our nation, as these will be the things uppermost in the minds of the public